Australian’s Shame – A Tween’s letter to the Prime Minister

Out of the mouths of babes….. this is a letter to the Prime Minister of Australia by a 13 year old Australian child, who feels strongly about Australian’s policy on illegal immigrants and their indecent treatment. To me, it expresses what most of us feel, the shame that our country is not doing more to help those less fortunate than ourselves, and we are all, unless we are amongst the indigenous people, immigrants to this new world. Tony himself, is the product of an open and tolerant society, one that his government’s policies, appear to threaten.

Dear Tony Abbott,

My name is xxxxx  xxxxxxxx, I am 13 years old and I feel concerned about the choice you are  making with the immigrating “Asylum Seekers.” I hope this letter gives you a different perpective about this issue.

The word ‘Asylum Seeker’ is designed to scare people, but really it is just a innocent human being like us. Why should we treat Asylum Seeker’s any differently? Why are we pushing them away from Australia?  We should be extremely great full that we live in a economically,  rich country that lets numerous people of different races come to Australia. Unfortunately, county’s like Iraq, Afghanistan, Burma and many other’s, don’t earn enough income to pay for a flight to Australia, instead, they try and start a new life by boarding a boat, and illegally, coming to Australia. The word ‘Illegal’ is a powerful word. It means that you’ve broken the law, and should be punished. But in this case, I don’t see why they should be punished. Just like us, they are trying to start a new life for them self or there family, yet we are stopping them. So I guess my question is, why?

When making this decision you also need to think about financial issues. You will be paying the Australian Navy hundreds of dollars to go out to sea and watch for Asylum seekers trying to enter the country illegally. It’s a huge waste of money! When the Navy spots a boat in our waters, they inspect it and tell them to turn around or send them back. To go home, only to be told again, that their own country also does not want them to return. They have chosen to leave and are not allowed back. So these people are desperately in need of our help. They have nowhere to go and are stuck our in the sea. How does that make YOU feel?

We need to give these people a chance because they deserve it. We need to acknowledge  the fact that they travel so far across the world to start a new life to better themselves. They will be motivated to make a contribution to our society. They will be grateful to  live a life in peace. Everyone should have the choice to change and start a new life, so why not give them this chance? Imagine yourself in their shoes? I think you need to re-think your decision and really think about what you are doing to these people and how you will be making them feel.

Why are we not feeling grateful that these people are wanting to come to OUR country?Why aren’t they going to another country closer to home? Because they think that if we try to immigrate to this country, I might have a chance – a chance to change my life.

Think about it! Imagine that you are a man from Iraq, trying to immigrate to Australia to find a job to pay for your family to survive back home. You’ve paid all your savings to an agent, boarded a leaky boat and you are going to be travelling for hours and hours to get to Australia. It is cold and wet, but you get through it. You can see land ahead. as you are getting closer, you are stopped by the Australian Navy. They inspect your boat and tell you to turn around and go back. go home. YOu and the others on board beg to stay, but they don’ t care. (They wouldn’t care because they have no idea what you are feeling!)

But more importantly, how will you feed your family back home? The money is all gone and as you travel back home, you are stopped again, only this time by some of your own people. They say you can not return to your homeland. You have chosen to leave and you must stay out. If you continue you or your family may be killed. How would this make you feel?

I hope that this letter has given you a different perspective about this issue and the decision that you are making. 

Sincerely,

xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx

Shame, Australia, shame…. something to ponder about.